REXDALE, ON — On Monday evening Queen Of Jewels paid trainer Carman Hie back for months of frustration with a flawless victory in her first Gold Final appearance.
Throughout her two-year-old season the trotting filly displayed endless ability, but was unable to pull it all together. This season she has shown steady improvement that culminated in Monday night’s impressive 1:56.2 score over a soggy Woodbine Racetrack surface rated one second slower than normal.
Leaving from Post 1, Queen Of Jewels and driver Steve Condren landed in third spot and sat contentedly as Clarice Marie and favourite For The Luva Moni laid down a :28.1 opening quarter and a :57.4 half. Heading for the 1:26.4 three-quarters Condren popped the King Conch daughter to the outside behind Excusez Moi and then hit the accelerator as the fillies trotted down the stretch. At the wire Queen Of Jewels was three-quarters of a length ahead of For The Luv Moni with Wescott closing well to finish third.
“Carman is really easy to work for. He said, “Get what you can, and whatever she gets is good,”” said Condren, who engineered the win for the Carman Hie Stable Inc. of Rockwood, Gary Smith of Burlington and Peter Kloepfer of Harley. “The trip just worked out in her favour.”
The win was the filly’s second straight, she captured her elimination last week in 1:56.4 effort off the front-end, but Condren noted that taking command of the race was never really in the cards for the $130,000 Final.
“There was no tactic change or anything, that’s just the way it set up and it worked out well. I didn’t think I’d be able to cut the mile anyway,” said the Milton resident, who was making his fourth appearance in the race bike behind Queen Of Jewels. “She usually chases home pretty well, I didn’t know if I could get there, but it worked out that we did.”
Queen Of Jewels improved her record to three wins and two seconds through seven starts with the victory, which pushed her 2003 earnings to $131,216.
Woodbine fans sent the filly off as their second choice behind For The Luva Moni and she returned $7.60 to win, $3.60 to place and $2.90 to show. For The Luva Moni’s runner-up effort was worth $2.50 to place and $2.20 to show, while fourth-choice Wescott paid $4.50 to show. The exactor was worth $16.20 and the triactor returned $88.60.
Ontario’s gifted three-year-old trotting fillies now enjoy a seven week break from Ontario Sires Stakes action. Their fourth Gold Series goes postward Sept. 28 at Flamboro Downs.
Woodbine Racetrack hosts eliminations for its final Gold Series of the 2003 season next Monday, when the two-year-old trotting colts roll into town.